Boy in the Striped Pyjamas Review

A Look at the Film Based on John Boyne's Bestselling Book

Nov 20, 2008

An important but harrowing film about innocence lost in the midst of 1940s Germany. Starring David Thewlis, Asa Butterfield and Jack Scanlon. 9/10.

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas faces two extremely difficult obstacles. One, it is a film based on a best selling book, so many people will feel they already know the story. Two, its harrowing subject matter makes it a hard sell at the cinema. It might not be a date movie, and it's certainly not a comedy, but it still deserves to be seen by everyone. As a film it is extraordinarily moving and expertly directed; an important and a timely reminder of the sheer scale and horror of the Holocaust.

The Film Based on John Boyne's Bestseller

John Boyne's best selling book was notable for its deceptively simple prose. Ideally approached with little or no knowledge of the theme, its power lay in the subtle and affecting realisation that what was being seen and described through a child's eyes could only be interpreted by adults as one particularly horrific moment in history. With the film, this was not such an easy trick to pull off. Although the young protagonist Bruno remains confused and unaware of exactly what is happening around him, the landscape of Nazi Germany is instantly recognisable to a modern audience. The decision to simply go with this was well thought out, as was cutting back on other scenes which only made sense on the page. Writer/Director Mark Herman deserves full credit for his excellent screenplay, which cleverly but fittingly embellishes where required. The film retains the book's child-like innocence, but amplifies it effectively enough to really work on the big screen.

James Horner's Music in Boy in Striped Pyjamas - Deserving of an Oscar

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is an American/English collaboration for the English speaking market, so although the film's set in Germany all the characters speak in English. Wisely, they do so without the affectation of German accents, although young Bruno's (Asa Butterfield) crisp, stilted delivery is a little off putting at first. Perhaps the early scenes were harder to film than the later, drama filled sequences. As soon as the film moves away from Berlin, presumably to Auschwitz (although its never actually referred to), the tension is palpable. This is emphasized by wonderfully evocative Shostakovitch-like music, for which James Horner deserves to be Oscar nominated, and terrific performances from all the cast.

David Thewlis Excels as German Commandant

David Thewlis has been frightening before, particularly as Johnny in Mike Leigh's Naked, but he's never been so scary as the ordinary family man just doing his job in this film. His job happens to be Commandant. This makes it very difficult for Bruno to reconcile what he sees going on around him with what he's being told he should think. How can his father be one of the nasty soldiers his new friend Shmuel hates so much? In Bruno's mind, only people like Kurt, who lashes out and shouts orders, are nasty soldiers. But Lieutenant Kurt Kotler, played brilliantly by Rupert Friend, has his own difficulties to face. In a Germany over-run by national pride and arrogance, he inadvertently reveals a secret to the Commandant's wife which has devastating consequences for both of them.

This level of character complexity is The Boy in the Striped Pyjama's ace in the hole. The German's are depicted as more than just evil, which makes the reality of what's going on even more absurd. It's no wonder Bruno fails to understand the exact nature of it. Seen through a child's eyes the irrationality is truly unfathomable. Like the German film The Wave, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas dares to question how this could actually happen, briefly touching on the propaganda that allowed death camps to exist virtually un-noticed. But whereas The Wave takes a modern viewpoint of the political ideology, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is bound to an early 1940s timeline. Its resolution, therefore, is in keeping with the shocking atrocities carried out at that time. The stunned silence that descends over the auditorium after a screening of this film speaks volumes about its devastating impact, and resonates as a fitting tribute to this incredible, haunting film.

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